This invention relates to an electrical program guide system and method wherein a plurality of screens for program selection representative of contents of a plurality of programs of different broadcasting channels are transmitted via a single transmission channel so that a desired program can be selected rapidly with certainty, intuitively and directly from among a large number of programs.
In recent years, the number of broadcasting channels has increased in a cable television (CATV) system or a digital direct satellite broadcasting system (DSS: Digital Satellite System, a trademark of Hughes Communications) in the United States of America applying a high efficiency coding technique such as the MPEG (Moving Picture Experts Group). As a result of an increase in number of channels, for example, 150 to 200 broadcasting channels are now available, and it is not easy to find out a desired program from among the broadcasting channels. In general, to find out a desired program, a broadcasting channel is first selected and the program of the selected broadcasting channel is actually confirmed. Then, if the program is not the desired one, another broadcasting channel is selected similarly. When the number of channels is comparatively small, the way of selection just described is not very inconvenient; however when the number of available channels is such a very great number as mentioned above, the way of selection will make the viewer feel cumbersome.
Thus, in order to allow a viewer to readily recognize contents of programs being currently broadcast, a method of displaying images of programs being currently broadcast on a so-called multi-screen which includes a plurality of reduced screens has been proposed and is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. Heisei 6-169448.
According to the method disclosed in the document just mentioned, a screen is formed as a multi-screen which is divided into 4.times.4 reduced screens, in each of which a reduced image of a screen of a program broadcast in a different broadcasting channel is displayed. Further, on each reduced screen, also the number of the broadcasting channel which is broadcasting the program is displayed in a superposed condition. Accordingly, the viewer can recognize, observing the reduced screens of the multi-screen, outlines of contents of individual programs, and when the viewer wants to actually enjoy one of the programs, the viewer will manually operate a remote commander or a like device to input the number of the broadcasting channel of the program.
While such increase in number of broadcasting channels as described above is proceeding in the United States of America, a project of digital television broadcasting is proceeding also in Japan. If the project is realized, a large number of broadcasting channels are provided, and it will become impossible to present programs of a large number of broadcasting channels with mere 16 reduced screens.